[Observer1940]

Hello Larry


I expect you will know already, the type of information available, or missng in County Record Offices. I would be interested to know if anything online does exist too. However some Record Offices don't even have their collections fully catalogued and are years behind in indexing their collections?


I researched an air crash once onto a house involving civilians killed. The crash was mentioned very briefly in a local 1970s book, although the author had got the date two days out and the wrong crew names. However the author had the correct road name and the RAF Unit of the aircraft, so I did have something to go at at County and PRO level.

There was nothing online in my case, so I had to resort to records at the County Record Office.


The only clue on the Flying Accident Card was "2 Non RAF" with a crashed onto house reference. The Balloon Squadron ORB also stated aircraft crashed onto house and two occupants believed killed, but no civilian names and no road name.


What was interesting, was that although the Unit who held the aircraft on charge named the RAF crew and the civilian on board, no mention was made of the crash onto the house and the two civilans killed on the ground.


The crew and civilian on board the aircraft were registered "Due to War Operations" by the Unit, with a mileage reference to nearest town.

However, the two civilians on the ground were registered by their families "Due to War Operations" with an address where they died.

Unless someone has researched the incident and put the account online, I have found little online, only the quarterly General Register Office Indexes, but as you will know, you need to know the name/s first.


I used the following records: -
1. Emergency Planning Register or Chart
2. Some County Record Office have kept the forms of civilian deaths due to war operations / enemy action
3. ARP / War Committee records / Observer Corps


I discovered that there were no Police or Fire records. The Ambulance Log had no reference.


Unless the above record types are online, I fear there is little chance of finding anything online.


Once you have a name or names, you may find Death Notices placed by the family (but in the case I was researching the funeral report only referred to the Tragedy last week, but did say that the daughter survived because she was having tea with her family nearby).


You might be lucky that something got past the Censor and published in the newspaper. Then you might be even more fortunate to discover that the newspaper has been scanned by the British Library or on the Gale Databases.


One newspaper account, regarding another 1940 crash I am researching quotes the family living opposite and that nobody could have survived. I have traced the daughter who has a vivid recollection of the crash and one crew got off the aircraft and I noted his death has been treated differently in The Times RAF Casualty List. The newspaper just says 'Bomber Crash", although she and others traced confirmed it was definitely an RAF aircraft.


To get accurate information, I feel that a visit to the County Record Office might be the only way, but County Record Offices vary from nil information, to quite an amount amongst a number of differing types of records.


Some County Record Offices are placing limited information online, as part of their catalogue descriptions. But some CROs are poor and some War records remain virtually uncatalogued at County level, although some of their files being listed on A2A.


Mark